This 2015 photo shows a rendering for the Sakthi manufacturing facility planned at the time for the old Southwestern High School in Detroit. On Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, ground was broken on a $7 million standalone expansion.(Photo: Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press)Buy Photo

Indian auto supplier Sakthi Automotive broke ground today 10/13 in southwest Detroit on what is planned as a $7-million expansion that will add 200 jobs.

The company is building a 60,000-square-foot facility to be completed in the middle of next year south of its local headquarters at 6401 W. Fort St. A news release from the City of Detroit said Sakthi needs the new standalone facility for its expanding business supplying undercarriage steering and other components to U.S. and European automakers.

The expansion marks at least the second ground-breaking for an auto supplier within the Detroit city limits this year. In April, ground was broken in the I-94 Industrial Park on the city's east side on a $95 million facility for Flex-N-Gate. That facility will supply parts for Ford and is expected to initially create 400 jobs with the possibility that the number could grow to 750.

Sakthi began operating in Detroit with 75 employees in 2014 and expanded the following year with an additional 100 jobs. In 2016, the company opened a manufacturing facility and aluminum foundry on the south side of the former Southwestern High School, the news release said, noting that the company now has more than 600 workers in Detroit.

Sakthi's CEO Lalit Verma noted in the release that “Detroit has been a very good location to grow our company, as this is our third significant investment here in the last five years."Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said 65% of Sakthi's employees live in the City of Detroit.

"That says everything about the value that Detroit offers global manufacturers and the value they bring to our city,” Duggan said.